Low Stroke Rate of Carotid Stenosis Under the Guideline-Oriented Medical Treatment Compared With Surgical Treatment

Medical treatment for asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis (ACAS) has advanced recently. The outcomes of medical treatment and surgical treatment were evaluated to clarify the optimal treatment for ACAS.Patients with ACAS of ≥ 50% luminal narrowing underwent serial follow-up carotid artery ultrasonography for one year or more at the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention between November 2006 and October 2013. The incidence of cardiovascular events (stroke, myocardial infarction, cardiovascular death) was examined in 64 patients (medical treatment group), and in 47 patients (surgical group) who underwent surgical treatment (carotid endarterectomy or carotid artery stenting) during this same period at the Department of Neurosurgery.Annual cardiovascular event rate was 0.91% (2/219 person-year) in the group of guideline-oriented medical treatment with an annual check-up for disease management and 5.6% (6/107 person-year) in the surgical group (log-rank P = 0.027; HR in the medical treatment group, 0.19 [medical treatment/surgical]; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.028 to 0.87). Annual stroke event rate was 0.46% (1/219 person-year) in the medical treatment group and 4.7% (5/107 personyear) in the surgical group (log-rank P = 0.016; HR in the medical treatment group, 0.11 [medical treatment/surgical]; 95% CI, 0.0057 to 0.70). Multivariate logistic analysis showed that the surgical group was an independent variable associated with cardiovascular events (P = 0.049).Annual cardiovascular and stroke event rates were low in patients receiving medical treatment for ACAS and better than surgical treatment. The present study shows that medical treatment is an important option for ACAS.